The latest stand-off between Britain and Germany will of course have a range of consequences for this country: some good, some bad. 

To understand the reality behind this political pantomime, we should first step back and put recent events into perspective.

It has actually been a slow but relentless strategy on the part of the Germans, lasting many years.  Now – in the final stages – Britain has eliminated itself from the game by kicking itself into the long grass.  Gung-ho Tories are indulging themselves in the usual, out-dated ‘bulldog-spirit’  flag-waving and the Merkozy team must be doubled-up with laughter as Cameron plays at exercising his worthless veto against new EU treaty proposals.

Labour’s Jaqui Smith (not a usual source of wisdom) tweeted: “Surely a veto would stop something. This sounds like getting off a train which then continues to its destination without you.”

The foolish Brits have done exactly as predicted. Rommel would have been proud.

Germany’s timing is excellent. With so many EU nations desperate to stay in the club and not go the same way as Greece, Ireland or perhaps even Italy and Spain, the newly-enlarged European ‘family’ will agree to anything Germany wants. 

All EU countries will sign whatever treaty is put before them, and will obey all orders (sorry, ‘financial regulations’) or suffer the consequences: meaning fines, penalties and the possibility of being dropped from the club to vanish without trace in what amounts to an economic death-camp, somewhere in the frozen wastes of Eastern Europe.  Sounds familiar?  Who needs stormtroopers when you can place a large financial jackboot across the throats of every country in Europe?

It’s obvious that in recent years Germany actively encouraged the newer EU countries to join the club.   Like a wise old hunter who watches small animals enter his trap to take the bait, Germany knew only too well that once these fragile economies were in the grip of the Euro they would end up at the mercy of German demands and controls.    It’s inconceivable that the clever Germans didn’t know that the Greeks, Portuguese or any of the smaller nations would have poor fiscal policies and controls.  Even the Italians and Spanish would show their true colours after a while. They were all awash with EU money and grants to pay for their roads and development. To hell with financial and budgetary controls… it was a European gravy train and the piper would never have to be paid.

Perhaps as an amusing bonus for the Germans, this enlargement of Europe created an added financial burden for Britain at the same time. Many thousands of new EU citizens came to England in their droves to live and to claim the social security benefits they couldn’t get in France, Germany or anywhere else. It would always be the stupid, ‘fair play’ British who would let everyone take advantage of our tendency to follow the rules.  But that’s an argument for another time.

To bring us up to date, the Germans have now succeeded in winning a complete victory on the political and economic battlefield.  Leading such a large group of fragile nations, each clinging to the other for life, Germany can continue demanding anything it wants. It will soon take control of European money markets at the expense of the City of London.  After all, where will China, India and South America invest when it comes to business with Europe?  Certainly not in Britain, whose financial services industry will now rapidly shrink and relocate elsewhere.  It will be Frankfurt, not London’s square mile, in future.

To reinforce Germany’s position by adding the moral high ground to their victory,  America and Britain are generally seen to have created the current economic meltdown through their institutional abuse of the money markets. We are the ones who are discredited across the world and seen as the villains of the piece, not Germany.

On top of that, the all-powerful Americans are a busted flush: disliked, discredited and disorganised, with the British hanging onto their coat-tails. Even Hitler couldn’t have dreamt of that victory.

With the well-publicised U.S. economic problems, and unpopular involvement in wars and ‘regime change’ around the world, it doesn’t take a great leap of imagination to see Germany’s new Europe wresting control of the entire Western money market from America within five or ten years.

Eighty years ago, Hitler could only ever see a military solution to world domination for the ‘Übermensch’, based on historic precedents. He certainly had the vision, but he was embittered by the German surrender terms at Versailles in 1919 and therefore too impatient to obtain his revenge and retribution in any other way than by military force.   He failed to take into account the emerging, rampant capitalism of the West, or to see the financial markets as a more effective vehicle for his ambitions. This is ironic when you consider that his own rise to power came about after the Wall Street crash in 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression, which led to Germany’s economic weakness in the 1930s.

Now, after a wait of only 75 years – a mere blink of an eye in historic terms – the Germans have turned their total military defeat in 1945 into a resounding victory in Europe. All without a drop of blood being spilled, or even much real resistance.

Even if it means some difficult times ahead for Britain, you have to admire the old enemy.

—————————————————————————————————-

What of Britain now?   Is this all bad for us, or is it a blessing in disguise?

Read the next in this series, coming soon.